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Florence Deshon

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Florence Deshon
Deshon in 1920
Born
Florence Danks

(1893-07-19)July 19, 1893
Tacoma, Washington, U.S.
DiedFebruary 4, 1922(1922-02-04) (aged 28)
New York City, New York, U.S.
Cause of deathInert gas asphyxiation
Other namesFlorence Deschon

Florence Deshon (born Florence Danks; July 19, 1893 – February 4, 1922) was an American motion picture actress in silent films. Born in Tacoma, Washington, Deshon began her film career in 1915, appearing in The Beloved Vagabond, and would later star in numerous pictures for Samuel Goldwyn and Vitagraph Studios between 1918 and 1921. She was romantically involved with writer Max Eastman and actor Charlie Chaplin. Deshon died of gas asphyxiation in her New York City apartment.

Early life

Florence Deshon was born Florence Danks in Tacoma, Washington, to Samuel Danks, a musician and union organizer from Wales, and Flora Caroline Spatzer, a pianist of Austro-Hungarian descent.[1][2] She lived in Washington with her parents and older brother, Walter, until the family moved to New York City around 1900, as her parents pursued musical careers.

In 1913, she became acquainted with writer Max Eastman in Greenwich Village, and the two became romantically involved.[3]

Career

Deshon appeared in more than twenty silent films, beginning in 1915 with The Beloved Vagabond. In 1919, while living in New York, she was summoned by Samuel Goldwyn to Los Angeles, California, and offered her work in his studio.[4]

Deshon played in features for Vitagraph Studios until 1921. Her final film credit was in the role of Sally McTurk in The Roof Tree, directed by John Francis Dillon. She returned to New York City with her mother in December 1921, hoping to continue her work in films there.[5]


Margrethe Mather, Florence Deshon, 1921, bromide print. J. Paul Getty Museum[6]

Personal life

In addition to her relationship with Eastman, Deshon had a purported romantic relationship with Charlie Chaplin while living in Los Angeles and purportedly "commuted from coast to coast" between the two men.[7]

Death

On February 4, 1922, Deshon was found unconscious on the third floor of her apartment building at 120 West Eleventh Street. A window was open in her bedroom, but illuminating gas flowed from an opened jet. A newspaperwoman, Minnie Morris, found Deshon when she returned to the building. An ambulance took Deshon to St. Vincent's Hospital, but attempts to revive her were unsuccessful. She died the following afternoon, aged 28. Deshon's apartment had been subleased from Doris Stevens, who was married to Dudley Field Malone. The couple were honeymooning in Europe at the time of the actress' death. She died five days after William Desmond Taylor, who overshadowed her.

A medical examiner concluded Deshon's death was accidental. However, rumors persisted among her circle of friends and acquaintances that she might have committed suicide, and several biographers, including Ross Wetzsteon[7] and Christoph Irmscher,[2] have described her death as such. An unsubstantiated comment from a neighbor had it that she had recently argued with a person who came to her apartment. Having recently broken off their relationship, Eastman claimed that Deshon had no reason to kill herself and that her death was accidental; he had come across her on the street on the afternoon before her death when they spoke briefly before going their separate ways. That evening, Eastman heard that she had been rushed to hospital whilst he was watching a theatre performance. He went to St. Vincent's and gave blood, but the attempt to revive Deshon was futile.

Filmography

Year Title Role Other notes Ref.
1915 The Beloved Vagabond [8]
1916 The Ruling Passion Blanche Walcott [9]
1916 Jaffery Liosha [10]
1917 The Judgment House Al'Mah [11]
1917 The Auction Block Lilas Lynn [10]
1917 The Other Man Lucia Stedman [10]
1918 The Desired Woman Irene Mitchell [10]
1918 A Bachelor's Children Mrs. Beaumont [10]
1918 Just a Woman — [10]
1918 The Golden Goal Beatrice Walton [10]
1918 One Thousand Dollars Lotta Lauriere [10]
1918 Love Watches Lucia de Morfontaine [10]
1918 The Clutch of Circumstance Lory Williams [10]
1919 The Cambric Mask Mrs. Lanark [10]
1919 The Loves of Letty Mrs. Allardyce [10]
1920 The Cup of Fury Polly Widdicombe [10]
1920 Duds Marquise [10]
1920 Dangerous Days Marion Hayden [10]
1920 Twins of Suffering Creek Jess Jones [10]
1920 Dollars and Sense Daisy [10]
1920 Curtain Lila Grant [10]
1920 Deep Waters Kate Leroy [10]
1921 The Roof Tree Sally McTurk [10]

See also

References

  1. ^ Warren 2011, p. 163.
  2. ^ a b Irmscher, Christoph (2017). Max Eastman: A Life. Yale University Press. pp. 122–2. ISBN 978-0-300-22256-2.
  3. ^ Warren 2011, pp. 163–4.
  4. ^ Warren 2011, p. 164.
  5. ^ IMDB entry
  6. ^ Craig, David J. (January 23, 2004). "California pictorialists come into focus at BU Art Gallery exhibition". B.U. Bridge. Boston University. Retrieved April 21, 2022. Vol. VII, No. 17
  7. ^ a b Wetzsteon 2007, p. 65.
  8. ^ Wetzsteon 2007, p. 64.
  9. ^ "Photoplay Attractions". Indianapolis News. February 26, 1916. p. 9 – via Hoosier State Chronicles. Open access icon
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t "Florence Deshon". American Film Institute. Catalog of Feature Films. Archived from the original on October 18, 2017. Retrieved October 17, 2017.
  11. ^ Wheeler, Edward Jewitt Wheeler; Crane, Frank, eds. (1918). "Leading Photoplays of the Month". Current Opinion. 64: 188.

Works cited

  • Warren, Beth Gates (2011). Artful Lives: Edward Weston, Margrethe Mather, and the Bohemians of Los Angeles. Getty Publications. ISBN 978-1-606-06070-4.
  • Wetzsteon, Ross (2007). Republic of Dreams: Greenwich Village: The American Bohemia, 1910–1960. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-1-416-58951-8.

Further reading

  • New York Times, "Actress Dies Of Poison Gas", February 5, 1922, p. 3
  • New York Times, "Eastman Denies Rift With Miss Deshon", February 6, 1922, p. 3
  • Michael G. Ankerich (2017). Hairpins and Dead Ends: The Perilous Journeys of 25 Actresses Through Early Hollywood. BearManor. ISBN 978-1-62933-201-7.


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